Rev. Dr. Alger Adams, Hobarts First Black Graduate

Hobarts First Black Graduate

Hobart and William Smith colleges prioritize promoting diversity and inclusion, but I want to look back before this was common. As HWS was becoming desegregated, Rev. Dr. Alger Adams came to the school and would become the college's first African American graduate in 1932. The Racism very present in society did not change when Alger Adams came to Hobart, as upon arrival officials saw that he was Black and refused to give him a room on campus. This happened despite the fact he received a scholarship to come to Hobart. His time at Hobart was monumental in the college's history as he found success despite the challenges he faced.

Arriving in Geneva

Growing up in Omaha Nebraska, he was a bright young man who would arrive in Geneva in 1928 to attend Hobart college on scholarship. As mentioned before he was immediately faced with officials refusing to give him a room on campus because of his race. Despite the racism he was facing at Hobart, he excelled with the help of the African American community in Geneva, which welcomed him with open arms and gave him the encouragement he needed to be one of the best students at the school. While at the school he had to work multiple jobs to support himself through college. He was a dishwasher at local restaurants, he polished fixtures on campus while working multiple other jobs. In 1932 the school’s newspaper, The Echo, wrote about this and said, “Walgreen’s [drugstore] and [washing] windows galore kept him from starving, and the wolf from the door.”. Ignoring the struggle he had to face from racism, the struggles he had to face would be too much for most college students to get by, let alone achieve what he was able to. He would triple major in English, Greek, and psychology while serving as an assistant in the psychology department and would publish his undergraduate research in the American Journal of Psychology. In 1932 he would graduate magna cum laude and be named Phi Beta Kappa.

After Hobart

While his time at Hobart was more than impressive, his accomplishment did not stop in Geneva. After he graduated from the college, he was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship, a fund that awarded grants to hundreds of African Americans in Arts and Literature. This honor was received by many of the greatest names in African American arts and literature, and Adams joined them. His accomplishments were able to help him receive a scholarship from the Harvard School of Business, but Alger would decide to attend the General Theological Seminary in Manhattan, in part due to his commitment to the priesthood, and he would go on to graduate from the seminary. In the 50’s he would continue to minister part-time, but he was drawn to civil rights and through the development of the newspaper and was able to use it to build to give African Americans a cohesive voice. He and his wife would run the Westchester County Press, and they would create The Creative Printery in 1962, which specialized in the publish cation of high school and college newspapers. At this time, he would also earn a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University. His many achievements would also include writing two novels and playing an active part in many parts of civil rights. In 1983, Hobart and William Smith would award him an honorary Decorate of Divinity to recognize his amazing career and service to his community. His legacy will forever be a part of HWS’s history and majorly influenced the colleges.

Marks, John. “Looking Back: Alger Adams, Hobart's First African-American Graduate.” Finger Lakes Times, 19 Sept. 2020, https://www.fltimes.com/lifestyle/looking-back-alger-adams-hobarts-first-african-american-graduate/article_fe429c4d-c710-5e5f-a3ed-6b77548c78ce.html.

“Celebrating the Legacy of Alger Adams '32.” Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 17 Apr. 2020, https://www2.hws.edu/celebrating-the-legacy-of-alger-adams-32/.

“Alger Adams – Hobart and William Smith Colleges.” BIOGRAPHY OF REV. DR. ALGER L. ADAMS '32, D.D.'83, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, https://www2.hws.edu/academics/alger-adams/.